A relay may be equipped with an electromagnetic block around which a coil is wound, and a contact block driven by the electromagnetic block and operated to open/close a contact. The relay may incorporate a connecting unit configured to connect a coated wire to a coil terminal electrically connected to the coil. Some known examples of a connecting unit include a unit configured to connect the coated wire to the coil terminal by soldering, and a unit configured to engage the coated wire with the coil terminal to connect therebetween.
FIG. 7 illustrates one example of the soldering-based connecting unit. As shown in FIG. 7, the soldering-based connecting unit may connect a core wire 81 uncovered at the tip end of a coated wire 8 to a coil terminal 7 formed in a roughly flat plate shape. Wherein the coil terminal 7 is electrically connected with a coil 22 which is wound around an electromagnetic block 2.
Unfortunately, when soldering the coated wire 8 to the coil terminal 7, the connecting unit is not equipped with a holding unit adapted to hold the coated wire 8 on the coil terminal coil terminal 7. This may cause an unstable connection therebetween, thereby leading to poor quality.
FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are enlarged views of the coil terminal in an electromagnetic block. As shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b), when soldering the coated wire 8 to the coil terminal 7, placing the coated wire 8 along a surface on which the coil terminal 7 is bonded may produce a space S between the core wire 81 of the coated wire 8 and the bonding surface of the coil terminal 7. The space S corresponds to a covering thickness of the coated wire 8. As such, the soldering requires bending the coated wire 81 toward the bonding surface and then placing the coated wire 81 along the bonding surface. This may put some stress on the core wire 81, resulting in a degraded bonding strength between the coated wire 8 and the coil terminal 7.